Category Archives: Church

Update and Back in Minneapolis

Posted on October 6, 2014 | Leave a comment

Map copyWell, unfortunately, we didn’t do a great job of blogging, as we had hoped to per our last blog, as we traveled 3,000 miles around the Midwest speaking during the last few weeks of September. Sorry about that.

So, to sum up our travels, Kristin and I have said over and over again that it went so much better than we expected! We expected to have a wonderful time with family, friends, and supporters as we traveled through MI, seeing family and friends in IN and KY, and then traveling up to WI to see more friends, supporters, and family in Monroe, Janesville, Appleton, Franksville, and Dunbar. And we did have such a wonderful and encouraging time with the people we visited and spoke with. Unfortunately, there were still so many more people we would have loved to see as we travel through the above places, but time and schedules just don’t always work out. (For those of you we weren’t able to see as we traveled through MI, IN, KY, and WI, please feel free to see us in MN, if you come this way sometime during the Fall and early Winter!)

But we didn’t expect our little 2 year and 4 month old little child to do as well as he did. Over the course of the three weeks, God was so gracious and answered our prayers as well as so many of you who have told us that you were praying especially for Charlie. Charlie really came out of his shell and was pretty extroverted (for Charlie) and warmed up and became comfortable with meeting new people, being left with new people, and sleeping in new places (6 in all)! So, that was a huge praise to God for us, and we come back to Minneapolis feeling encouraged and loved by the people we saw and so thankful to God for how this little guy who has traveled more than 10,000 miles through the air and on the ground over the last month has done and faired!!

Now, we wait with baited breath for the arrival of baby boy #2 sometime in the later part of October (October 27th is the due date). Please be praying for Kristin and the baby as they finish the final month of pregnancy and for Charlie as he adjusts to, Lord willing, being a big brother.

We will pretty much be around the Twin Cities till the middle of November. Please, if you are in this area, feel free to contact us, and we would love to see you!

Sisters
At the Indianapolis Zoo
Rides with cousins at the pumpkin patch
Helping “G-pa” make pancakes
Captain Charlie
Speaking at a supporting church
Lambeau leap!
Beautiful day for boating
Heading into Louisville, KY
Enjoying time with friends
View from the Mackinac Bridge
Family
Learning how to mow the lawn
Cousins
Fall!
Friends in KY
Checking out the fish at the zoo
Go Packers!
Getting his dog fix at Auntie Nikki and Uncle John’s
Cheesedays – being serenaded by the alpine horn
A bunch of punkins
Cheesehead in training

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Posted in Charlie, Church, Family, Prayer

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Driving to Pastor Njovu’s House (Video)

Posted on May 2, 2014 | 1 comment

Below is another dash cam video of me and Pastor John Chitambo going to visit another CROSS Project Pastor at his home – Pastor Njovu. Pastor Njovu and his church finished going through the CROSS Project lessons back in December of 2013 and graduated.

Pastor Njovu lives in an area of Lusaka, known as Chazanga, which is on the North side of Lusaka right off Great North Road. It’s an area that is fast developing as more and more people come in from the rural areas outside of Lusaka to live in the city as worldwide urbanization marches forward. I chose the song, “Funkytown” by the band Lipps Inc. to be the background music. I thought it was appropriate in regards to so many people wanting to move to Lusaka, since this song is about how the band wants to move and has dreams of moving from Minneapolis to New York. Ouch, to those of us who call Minneapolis home! But after living through a few Minneapolis winters, I can also see why.

This video gives you an idea of what a developing area/township/compound of Lusaka looks like. Sorry for all the sun glare. If only this place didn’t have perfect sunny weather almost all year around!

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Posted in Africa, Church, CROSS Project, Missions

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HIV in Zambia video

Posted on April 16, 2010 | Leave a comment

The movie below is one that I made recently about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Zambia, Africa. The movie is a mixture of statistics and video footage that was filmed in Lusaka, Zambia in 2005 when Kristin and I were serving in Zambia for our year and a half short-term missions work with ACTION. Many thanks to Sevelino Vasco, Blake Walburg, Steve Ripley and Kristin Dearth for all taking part and helping to get the various Lusaka footage. Hopefully, over the upcoming weeks and months I will be making some more of these short videos about life in Lusaka from the footage that was gathered back in 2005.

The song that is overlaid on these statistics and footage is by Chevelle. The song has more of an edgy feel to it, and I think it is appropriate for the death and destruction that HIV/AIDS leaves in its wake in Zambia every day. In the lyrics to the song, if you think of the “red” as being AIDS, the song touches very effectively on the denial, silence, fear, and isolation that many Zambians feel everyday that are HIV positive or in the later stages of AIDS.

Our prayer is that the Lord will work mightily in and through the Church in Zambia to break the culture of fear, denial, silence and isolation that surrounds people with HIV/AIDS; that Christ would shine forth as the mighty, merciful, all-sufficient Savior that He is, no matter what the circumstances are; and that the Body, the Church, would reach out to those suffering and care for them and love them, just as Christ loved us and loves us with the disease that we all have, sin.

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Posted in Africa, Church, video